This invention relates to a toy computerized system and a control method preferably applied to, for example, an automatically operable toy system.
A different device, namely a robot system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,585 (Fujita), and the contents of that patent are incorporated herein.
According to the invention a toy computerized system includes a shell representative of a animal, such as a dog. It is supported by multiple joint-type leg mechanisms serving as legs. The leg mechanisms are connected to the front and rear ends of a frame. A neck head mechanism is set on the front frame of the shell. An actuator provided joint is located at the top end of each leg mechanism. It is connected to the frame. One or more actuator joints are provided to each mechanism to act as an elbow or knee joint.
The head includes a microphone for receiving external sounds and it supplies an output signal to a signal processing circuit. The signal processing circuit supplies angle detection signals of angle detectors arranged on the actuator joints to an analog-to-digital conversion circuit. The analog-to-digital conversion circuit generates angle data corresponding to an angle detection signal and supplies the angle data to a microcomputer serving as control means. The signal processing circuit supplies an output signal from the microphone to the analog-to-digital conversion circuit. The analog-to-digital conversion circuit generates acoustic data corresponding to the intensity of an output signal of the microphone and supplies the acoustic data to the microcomputer.
The actuator joints control objects corresponding to a determined state and their rotational angles for a pulse generation circuit in accordance with an actuator control value or angle data previously stored in the memory. The pulse generation circuit generates a control signal corresponding to the designation and supplies the control signal to the actuator joints to be controlled.
The computerized toy system can select different attitudes or actions. For instance, with an animal character, there is a lying attitude, sitting attitude, working attitude, standing attitude and different types of walking attitude. The microcomputer selects an attitude or action in accordance with a state machine. The state machine represents an attitude or action of the walk robot and has multiple different states corresponding to the different attitudes. The state machine updates the present state to one of these states corresponding to an external sound. The state machine is updated, to make the toy execute any attitude or action. The microcomputer controls the actuator joints to change attitudes to select an attitude corresponding to an updated state.
The invention is further directed to providing a computerized toy which looks realistically and organically like an animal, preferably a dog. The construct of the computerized toy is that of a toy level product incorporating technology applicable to a toy rather than an expensive computerized robot. As such, the toy of the present invention may be useful for children and have a market price of one or a couple hundred dollars as opposed to sophisticated robot devices which may cost several thousand dollars.
Preferably, the toy grade computerized product includes only a microprocessor and sensors, as the controlling electronics, which operates several respective motors. There are a limited number of joints, preferably sixteen, which is sufficient to enable the toy to move in a natural and smooth manner representative of an animal such as a dog. The construct or skin of the toy is formed to be more realistic of a toy rather than a metallic artificial robot. As such, the configuration of the components and the material used can selectively be that which is akin to a toy dog, for instance a fur or plush type body can be applicable to the surface of the toy as seen by a user rather than a metallic artificial robot effect.
Preferably, the toy can recognize sound and the direction of a sound source, and can turn its head relatively sharply in the direction of the sound and walk towards that sound. Similarly, the device can recognize a human voice recorded in its memory and react to that voice. Commands can be sent to the product via a voice without an external controller, or simply by pressing an appropriate button on a controller.
One of the devices with the invention can react with other devices in a communicative kind of manner such that there is a respective interaction between different animals or dogs, as the case may be.
Each one of the computerized pets can be created with its own initial behavior characteristics, namely it can be figuratively born in a particular unique manner. Different instructions to the toy from a user can be made so that the behavior of the toy can progressively change in response to the action from the user.
In yet a further preferred form of the invention, the toy can be edited via an on-line connection with a computer.
The invention covers a computerized toy and method for operating a computerized toy.
The invention is further described with reference to the following detailed description which is material referring to an example animal, namely, a dog character identified as i-Cybie. Other kinds of toys can operate with the robot system. For instance there can be different animals, a cat, a rabbit, animals with two legs, crawling creatures, birds, and reptiles.